--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human attempts to construct moral order…" description: "\"Human attempts to construct moral order are always precarious: If righteousness too often leads to self-righteousness, the demand for justice can lead ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/susan-neiman-16864_character_human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order_2760452.jpg" --- # Human attempts to construct moral order are always… ![“Human attempts to construct moral order are always precarious: If righteousness too often leads to self-righteousness, the demand for justice can lead to one guillotine or another.” quote by Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/susan-neiman-16864_character_human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order_2760452.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/susan-neiman-16864_character_human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order_2760452.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/susan-neiman-16864_character_human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order_2760452.jpg) > “Human attempts to construct moral order are always precarious: If righteousness too often leads to self-righteousness, the demand for justice can lead to one guillotine or another.” [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Constructing moral order is fragile; righteousness can become self‑righteousness, and justice demands may lead to extreme punishments. **In simple terms:** Moral systems are fragile; justice can become extreme. Key Takeaway Beware of moral rigidity and its consequences. Themes ethics justice self‑righteousness political philosophy danger Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - legal reform - political debate - personal ethics - social movements Key Concepts moral philosophy risk of extremism justice theory Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance justice with humility? A Different Perspective Idealism may overlook practical complexities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Righteousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/righteousness/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self righteousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-righteousness/) ## Related quotes > [“So what if people disagree about values? People also disagree about facts. . . . In my view, the great intellectual challenge facing conservatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/so-what-if-people-disagree-about-values-people-also-disagree-about/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) > [Kings are in the moral order what monsters are in the natural.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-gregoire/kings-are-in-the-moral-order-what-monsters-are-in-the-natural/) Henri Gregoire > [“The living and efficaciously acting moral order is itself God. We require no other God, nor can we grasp any other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottlieb-fichte/the-living-and-efficaciously-acting-moral-order-is-itself-god-we/) [Johann Gottlieb Fichte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottlieb-fichte/) > [So often times we see these films that erode human dignity...films that deny the transcendent moral order of the moral universe. They're always eroding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-jones/so-often-times-we-see-these-films-that-erode-human-dignity-films-that/) [Jason Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-jones/) > [“Capitalism is not merely a system for the efficient production and distribution of goods and services; it also incarnates and promotes a particular moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-smith/capitalism-is-not-merely-a-system-for-the-efficient-production-and/) [Christian Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-smith/) > [Only science can hope to keep technology in some sort of moral order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-friedenberg/only-science-can-hope-to-keep-technology-in-some-sort-of-moral-order/) [Edgar Friedenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-friedenberg/) > [“My dear Prue, we are the inheritors of a wonderful world, a beautiful world, full of life and mystery, goodness and pain. But likewise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-meloy/my-dear-prue-we-are-the-inheritors-of-a-wonderful-world-a-beautiful/) [Colin Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-meloy/) > [Freemasonry is a moral order, instituted by virtuous men, with the praiseworthy design of recalling to our remembrance the most sublime truths, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/freemasonry-is-a-moral-order-instituted-by-virtuous-men-with-the/) [Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/) > [“In the civil society, the individual is recognized and accepted as more than an abstract statistic or faceless member of some group; rather, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-r-levin/in-the-civil-society-the-individual-is-recognized-and-accepted-as/) [Mark R. Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-r-levin/) > [In social matters, pointless conventions are not merely the bee sting of etiquette, but the snake bite of moral order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-king/in-social-matters-pointless-conventions-are-not-merely-the-bee-sting/) [Florence King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-king/) > [Common grace curbs the destructive power of sin, maintains in a measure the moral order of the universe, thus making an orderly life possible,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-berkhof/common-grace-curbs-the-destructive-power-of-sin-maintains-in-a/) [Louis Berkhof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-berkhof/) > [My analysis is that most faith based systems depend upon an absolute moral order. The declaration of things as absolutely evil or absolutely good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hewitt/my-analysis-is-that-most-faith-based-systems-depend-upon-an-absolute/) [Hugh Hewitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hewitt/) > [“The world is built on the foundation of morality, which is another name for Universal Spirit, and moral order sustains it. We human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/the-world-is-built-on-the-foundation-of-morality-which-is-another/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [“No offense against moral order was too trivial to escape the attention of the Spanish Inquisition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kirsch/no-offense-against-moral-order-was-too-trivial-to-escape-the/) [Jonathan Kirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kirsch/) > [“The ideas of the moral order and of God belong to the ineradicable substrate of the human soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-g-jung/the-ideas-of-the-moral-order-and-of-god-belong-to-the-ineradicable/) [C.G. Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-g-jung/) ## More by Susan Neiman > [“Sometimes realism seems to mean no more than the advice to plan ahead before you start a war. Sometimes realism means the recognition that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/sometimes-realism-seems-to-mean-no-more-than-the-advice-to-plan-ahead/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“Ordinary goodness is fraught with veins of vanity and self-interest and above all with pleasure--because goodness makes you feel more alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/ordinary-goodness-is-fraught-with-veins-of-vanity-and-self-interest/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [One great function of the arts is to keep ideals alive in a culture that does not yet realize them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/one-great-function-of-the-arts-is-to-keep-ideals-alive-in-a-culture/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“The dangers of sophistry and scholasticism are present in the possibility of philosophy itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/the-dangers-of-sophistry-and-scholasticism-are-present-in-the/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [In the most general terms, the Enlightenment goes back to Plato's belief that truth and beauty and goodness are connected; that truth and beauty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/in-the-most-general-terms-the-enlightenment-goes-back-to-plato-s/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“The claim that there is no alternative but perdition to a worldview that shows how everything fits together and makes perfect sense is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/the-claim-that-there-is-no-alternative-but-perdition-to-a-worldview/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“When education is overwhelmed by hypermedia, travel facile or ruinous, and work a blurred mixture of more dependence and less meaning, it’s harder than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/when-education-is-overwhelmed-by-hypermedia-travel-facile-or-ruinous/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“Vitality is not the denial of mortality, but the grown-up way of facing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/vitality-is-not-the-denial-of-mortality-but-the-grown-up-way-of/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“Negotiating small differences is part of being a grownup; no one can tell you in advance where to put your foot down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/negotiating-small-differences-is-part-of-being-a-grownup-no-one-can/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“how can human beings behave in ways that so thoroughly violate both reasonable and rational norms?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/how-can-human-beings-behave-in-ways-that-so-thoroughly-violate-both/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“It’s a matter of logical structure: what is, just is, and any claim about what ought to be is a claim about our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/it-s-a-matter-of-logical-structure-what-is-just-is-and-any-claim/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“Kitsch is much more than a question of style; it's a preference for consolation over truth. Disney's version of reality is not just cleaned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/kitsch-is-much-more-than-a-question-of-style-it-s-a-preference-for/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“What drives pure reason to efforts that seem to have neither end nor result?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/what-drives-pure-reason-to-efforts-that-seem-to-have-neither-end-nor/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“What we rarely see receive is a picture of adulthood that represents it as the ideal it should be. (...) What better way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/what-we-rarely-see-receive-is-a-picture-of-adulthood-that-represents/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [“If life is a gift, then the more you partake in it, the more you show thanks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/if-life-is-a-gift-then-the-more-you-partake-in-it-the-more-you-show/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) [Explore all 38 Susan Neiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) David Hudgins > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Human attempts to construct moral order are always precarious: If righteousness too often leads to self-righteousness, the demand for justice can lead to one guillotine or another.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Neiman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order-are-always-precarious-if/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order-are-always-precarious-if/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/susan-neiman-16864_character_human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order_2760452.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/susan-neiman-16864_character_human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order_2760452.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/susan-neiman-16864_character_human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order_2760452.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Human attempts to construct moral order are always precarious: If righteousness too often leads to…” — Susan Neiman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Susan Neiman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Human attempts to construct moral order...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order-are-always-precarious-if/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/human-attempts-to-construct-moral-order-are-always-precarious-if/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```